Head in the Clouds
by Kaycee Columbell
Summary: When weird things start happening, Bruce suddenly kicks Dick out. Why? Dick doesn't remember doing anything wrong. Soon, though, he'll figure out exactly what's going on. The FOG program wasn't as ineffective as everyone thinks... (Season One)
1. Chapter 1

**Just a story I'm testing out. Hope everyone likes it! Disclaimer: I do not own these people. Yet.  
**

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There was a knock on the door. It was a pretty soft knock, as though whoever it was didn't actually think anyone was there, but it was still loud enough to annoy a certain Roy Harper. He had just gotten out of the shower after getting back from patrol. It was an extremely wet night, the rain was more like a waterfall, completely drenching everything it touched. Including Red Arrow. Glancing at the clock, the archer saw that it was 2:00 am.

All together, Roy felt like punching whoever was at his door. Quickly pulling on some sweatpants, he stormed over to his door, yanking it open.

"What the heck do you want?! Can't you see what time it is-" He cut himself off as he took in the boys in front of him.

Wally stood slightly behind Dick with a hand on the younger's shoulder, as though guiding him. They were both soaked, each wearing only sweatpants and a tee-shirt. But that's not what got Roy to shut up.

Dick's eyes seemed lost. He just stared ahead with a blank expression, as though he didn't even notice the archer in front of him. Behind him, worry and uncertainty were written all over Wally's face. He gently guided his friend into the apartment as Roy shut the door behind them. When the eighteen-year-old turned around, Wally had Dick sitting on the raggedy couch as he ran to get some towels from the hall closet. Roy intercepted the speedster on his way back, unable to stay quiet any longer.

"Wally, what's going on? Is Dick okay?" The subject of his questions was just a few meters away, still staring straight ahead.

"No, he's not okay!" the speedster snapped. "I don't know what's wrong with him! He called me from some random phone booth sounding _really_ upset. Our call got disconnected, so I went to look for him. I found him just wandering around Gotham looking like that."

The two boys looked over to where their little brother sat, seemingly oblivious to their conversation.

"And he hasn't said anything else?" questioned the archer.

"No, nothing. That's why I brought him here. I don't know what else to do." There were a few moments of silence as Roy thought over what they knew. Finally, he sighed. Walking over to where Dick was sitting, he knelt down in front of him as Wally plopped himself next to the small boy. They sat there for a minute before Roy finally spoke up.

"Dick?" No response.

"Richard?" Still he just stared ahead.

"Hey Bambi**, are you with us?" The archer used the nickname he had given Dick years ago, as a way of teasing him about his size. It must have worked, because his eyes finally seemed to focus. He looked surprised to see Roy and Wally, and suddenly jumped up, putting a few feet between him and his brothers.

"I-I'm sorry!" He stuttered, a hand over his mouth.

"Dick-"

"I shouldn't have called anyone! I didn't mean to bother anyone! I'm so sorry! I-"

"Bambi, you're not bothering anyone!" Roy nearly had to shout to be heard. Dick quickly closed his mouth, his eyes sad.

"Just tell us what's going on, D. Please?" Wally implored.

The boy wonder looked down for a few seconds, before finally mumbling, "He kicked me out."

"What are you talking about, D?"

He made himself a little louder, "Bruce kicked me out." There was silence. Then Roy exploded.

"He WHAT? Why the heck would he do that? IDIOT! I'm going to kick him half way to-"

"Roy, please don't..."

"Then tell us what happened," Wally asked quickly before Roy could yell again.

"We got in a fight," Dick explained, sadly. "I don't even remember how it started. But in the end, I said it would probably be a lot easier on him if I weren't around, and he agreed. So I left." By now there were silent tears rolling down his face. Wally quickly wrapped his arms around him. "I shouldn't have called... You guys don't need to be pulled into this."

"Of course we do," Wally gently argued. "You're our little brother. If one of us gets hurt, we all do." Wally went to sit back on the couch, with Dick holding onto him for dear life.

Roy was still trying to comprehend what was going on. As much as he disliked Bruce, he was having a hard time thinking that the man would just kick Dick out. He was under the impression that the Dynamic Duo got along well with each other. He finally decided to ask.

"Maybe it was a misunderstanding, Dick. Are you sure he-"

"Would I be here if I wasn't sure?" Dick snapped, only causing him to cling onto Wally even more. "What am I going to do now?"

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**Hey everyone! This will NOT be a "Dick is really depressed" story. He is upset for good reason right now. All will be revealed**

**later. But first, I'd like to hear how I did, so I know whether to continue or not. Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it.**

****Nickname given by ky48 in 'Showing Thanks'.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who's still reading this! It makes me happy. Disclaimer: Do Not Own**

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The rest of the night consisted of Roy and Wally trying to calm their brother down. It turned out that once Dick had left Wayne Manor, he had spent a good few hours wandering around in the rain before he had called Wally. It seemed to take forever to finally get both boys dried off. Neither of them had brought extra clothes, so they had to borrow some extra things Roy had. They were too big on Wally and comically huge on Dick, but worked for the time being.

Afterwards, Roy tried making them hot chocolate, knowing how easily they, especially Dick, could get sick after being out there for so long in the downpour. He couldn't get the bird to drink any of it, however, and it ended up on the counter, long forgotten.

Both Roy and Wally ended up just talking for hours, simply trying to make Dick laugh. They talked about all the things they had done together in the past, and even stated planning things they would do in the future. They needed him to know that he wasn't alone, that he'd always have them. But no matter what they said, he wasn't able to stop thinking that he was just a bother to them. That they should kick him out just like Bruce did.

It wasn't until dawn that the physically and mentally exhausted boy wonder finally fell asleep. Roy and Wally were tried as well, but they both knew they wouldn't be able to fall asleep until they figured something out.

Leaving the boy wonder under a ton of blankets on the couch, they went to the kitchen so Wally could eat and Roy could mull things over.

"Well, this is a fine mess we have," Roy stated, dryly.

"I know, right? I didn't think those two ever fought. I wonder when that started," Wally was somehow able to speak clearly through his mouthful of cereal.

"And how we didn't know about it." Wally could only nod as they both went back to thinking of what to do. Glancing into the living room to make sure Dick was still asleep, Roy started gathering a few things together as Wally looked on, wondering what he was doing.

"You stay here with him," Roy finally ordered Wally as he finished off the last of Roy's cereal. "Do your parents know where you are?" he asked, pulling on a jacket.

"Well, not exactly..."

"Then call them," Roy said, tossing his phone to Wally. "The last thing we need right now is a frantic speedster convinced that you got kidnapped or something."

Wally couldn't help but chuckle at the thought of his uncle running around in his Flash costume, asking random people if they had seen him. As he saw Roy heading to the door, however, he quickly zipped over to him.

"Wait a second. Where are you going? Shouldn't I come, too?"

"No, you need to stay here in case Dick wakes up. I'm going to go talk to Ollie. He's pretty close to Bruce. He might know something that we don't." As Roy opened the door, Wally just pushed it shut again.

"Wait-"

"What do you not understand, West?" The lack of sleep was not helping with Roy's mood.

"Why don't you just go talk to Bruce himself? He'd know more than anyone else. If anything, you'll get to kick his butt just like you wanted to."

Roy forced himself to take a deep breath before answering. "Because if I go there, it'll be a dead giveaway that Dick is here. I don't want that idiot knowing where Bambi is yet."

"Why not?"

"Because," Roy said, yanking the door open, "If they really did get into that big of a fight, and he kicked Dick out, then I don't want that moron coming here to continue the argument when it's obvious Dick is upset enough as it is."

With that, he headed out to find his former mentor, trusting one of his brothers to look after the other while he was gone.

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**What's that? You want to see more Wal-Man? Especially after what the stupid show did to him? Sounds good to me.**

**P.S. Authors love reviews... *hint hint***


	3. Chapter 3

**I love Wally and hate what the show did to him. So I'm just going to pretend Season Two never happened. Yep.**

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Once Roy left, Wally wasn't really sure what to do. He called his parents, who were starting to freak out by then. Then he called his Uncle Barry because his mom had apparently gotten him and Aunt Iris worried, too. After that, though, there wasn't much else to do.

He didn't want to turn on the television, since Dick was sleeping on the couch in front of it, and he didn't want to go to sleep himself. So, he ended up attempting to clean the run-down apartment.  
_  
Roy can thank me later_, he thought as he pulled out a stack of plates in the cupboard in order to wipe out the dust gathering there. It didn't take long for everything to come crashing down. _Literally._ As the sound of the breaking dishes resounded throughout the apartment, Wally stood stock-still, a bit stunned.

"Dang It!" he yelled, forgetting about pretty much everything else. On a mission to find a broom, he stormed through the entrance to the kitchen...

...right into Dick. Wally's momentum easily knocked the smaller boy off his feet, causing him to fall back onto the floor.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Dick!" Wally stuttered as he helped him back onto his feet. "I totally didn't see you there, dude. Do you even make noise when you move?" Wally wasn't really sure where that last question came from, but it made Dick giggle a bit, so he was proud of it.

"It's okay, Kid Klutz. I was just coming to see what you broke now." His eyebrows went up when he saw the mess of plates. Glancing back at Wally, he said, "Roy is so going to have your head for that. Where is he, by the way?"

"Oh, said something about Ollie calling him earlier. I don't really remember. He should be back soon," Wally hoped he sounded convincing. He wasn't sure if Roy wanted Dick to know why he had gone to see Ollie. The boy in question seemed to buy it, and walked over to the broken pieces before bending down to start and pick them up.

"Uh, bro? Shouldn't you be using a broom? You're gonna get all cut up like that," Wally asked, looking around for the broom.

"I don't mind," Dick stated, nonchalantly. That got Wally's attention.

"You don't mind getting cut up?" He said worriedly. "That's not a good thing, D."

Dick sighed, standing up to throw away the pieces in his hands. "Not what I meant, Walls. All I mean is that after everything we've been through, a few little cuts don't bother me. Besides, I'm really careful. See?" He held up his hand to prove his point. There wasn't a single cut on them.

Bending back down, he continued, "I'm not going to go all suicidal on you. So don't worry. You shouldn't have to be fretting about my problems anyway." Knowing that it was virtually impossible to argue with the bird, Wally just bent down to help him with the last of the plate pieces. When they finished, Wally let them wander back over to the couch, before he finally couldn't take it anymore.

"What's going on?" he asked, determined to get an answer.

"Well," Dick replied, "Right now we're sitting on a couch. Earlier we-"

"You know what I mean! Since when do you and Bruce fight? Is it really bad enough that he'd kick you out? Why didn't you say anything to us before? Has it-"

"I can only answer one question at a time, Wally," Dick said tiredly.

"But you'll actually answer?" Dick thought about that for a minute before replying.

"No, I won't. At least not right now."

"But-"

"Please, Walls? Just let it go for the moment?" Wally wanted to argue, but the look on Dick's face made him bite his lip.

"Fine. But I want you to at least try to explain once Roy comes back." Dick was ready to argue, but was distracted by the clock on the wall behind Wally.

"Is it almost eleven already?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Why does-" Wally cut himself off as Dick rushed over to where his shoes had been thrown the night before, and quickly put them on. He was halfway to the kitchen before Wally was able to grab his wrist, bringing him to a halt.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Mount Justice," Dick replied, trying to get away from the speedster. "We have hand-to-hand combat at eleven. We're going to be late!" He was able to twist out of Wally's hold, and went to scribble a quick note to Roy only to have it yanked out from under the pencil.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Wally yelled, holding the note out of Dick's reach."You were up all night crying your eyes out, we don't have any of our things, and we're wearing Roy's enormous clothes! I think Canary will understand if we miss training just this once!"

"Oh, come on. It'll be fun." Even though Dick grinned to prove his point, Wally could tell the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"I said no."

Dick elbowed Wally in the gut, causing him to lower the paper so that Dick could grab it. He stuck it on the fridge before making his way out.

"I've been looking forward to hanging out at the Mountain all week," he yelled over his shoulder. "Don't try to argue, you know you won't win."

"Dick!" Wally called out, shoving his shoes on his feet. "At least wait for me!"

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**What was that? You want to know what Roy found out from Ollie? Well, okay... I guess I could do that next.**

**P.S. Authors love reviews... *hint hint***


	4. Chapter 4

Roy really hoped that Oliver had some idea of what was going on, because he really didn't. He had tried to look like he knew what he was doing in front of Wally, but he honestly was just as lost as the speedster was. He needed to put on a brave face for Dick, though.

He didn't know exactly what happened, but he was going to find out.

"Red Arrow to Green Arrow. Where the heck are you?" Roy nearly screamed into the comm. link.

"Jeez, Roy," replied the voice from the other end of it. "I'm in my office at Queen Industries. Where else would I be at nine in the mourning?"

"Sleeping, usually. That's why I checked your house first."

"On a Saturday, that's what I'd like to be doing. But there was an issue, I had to do some paperwork-"

"Look Ollie, I need to talk to you. So just stay there until I can do that."

"Well, sure. What-" Roy didn't stop to listen to the rest of his sentence; he was already jumping into his old pickup to drive to the Queen building.

It didn't take long for Roy to find himself standing inside the executive office, waiting for his former guardian to finish talking to some guys in suits. When they finally left, he locked the door and turned to Oliver, who was sitting behind his overly-large desk.

"What's going on with Bruce?"

"What are you talking about, Roy?"

Roy's patience was at it's end. "I'm talking about Bruce Wayne! How's he been acting lately? Has he mentioned Dick in any way? What about in his _other life_?"

"Well let's see..." Oliver started to think, still slightly confused. "I guess he's been pretty stressed out. Why do you ask?" Roy struggled for a minute with whether he should tell him or not. He finally gave in.

"He kicked Dick out." Ollie's eyes went wide as Roy continued. "Long story short: they got in a fight, Bruce kicked him out and now he's passed out at my place. Can't you think of anything that has been off about either of them?"

Oliver played with his goatee for a few seconds before answering.

"There's some new baddie running around Gotham. He didn't actually sound all that dangerous, but it's gotten Bruce pretty stressed out, although he would never tell me why. He's definitely been more snappy to everyone lately. But he gets like that a lot, so I didn't think much of it. Besides that, I can't think of anything unusual." Roy tried to think of any time Dick had mentioned a new villain, but he couldn't remember anything.

"Is Dick okay?" Ollie asked, concerned. "I mean, Bruce just can't do that. Once I'm out of here I'll go talk to Bruce. Maybe even roundup Clark and Barry, so that-"

"Don't do that."

"Why on earth not? Bruce has got to answer to what he did."

Tapping his fingers on the desk, Roy tried to explain. "If Bruce is still mad at Dick for whatever reason, I don't want him knowing where he is."

"You're just being overprotective, Roy."

"Maybe I am, Ollie! But up until now I always thought Bruce would never hurt Bambi and look what happened!"

"Alright, alright," Oliver sighed, defeated. "I won't let Bruce know what's going on. But I'm still going to talk to him. And before you can argue," he said quickly, seeing the look on Roy's face, "I'll be discreet about it. He won't know where Dick is. Did you leave him alone, by the way?"

"No, Wally's with him."

"Good. Just keep an eye on him, maybe try to get him to explain a few things himself. I know you. Try not to overreact to anything."

Roy snorted. "Me? When would I ever do something like that?"

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By the time Roy got back to his apartment, he felt like he had actually accomplished something. Now his only challenge was going to be getting the boy wonder to talk.

Opening the door quietly in case Dick was still sleeping, he entered the room. Only to find it empty. After doing a quick sweep through the empty apartment, his good mood was officially ruined.

_I'm going to kill those two brats._ he thought, before spotting a note on his fridge. It was in Dick's handwriting:

~Gone to the Mountain 11:00. Be back later.

Roy glanced at the clock. _12:00_.

He glared at the note for a minute more, trying to set it on fire, before throwing it away and heading to Mount Justice.

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**What's that? You want to know what happens at Mt. Justice? I guess that's a possibility...**

**P.S. Authors love reviews... *hint hint* **

**(This is how I'll end each chapter, by the way. In case you haven't figured that out.)**


	5. Chapter 5

"Robin, watch your left roundhouse," Canary called from across the room. Her advice didn't matter much, however, because Aqualad knocked him to the floor a few seconds later anyway. After taking Kaldur's hand to help himself up, Robin turned to face Black Canary, who was walking over.

"It's not like you to make this many mistakes," she said to him. "...or to show up in Red Arrow's clothes. Are you feeling okay?"

Trying to ignore the concerned looks from his teammates and Wally's glare from the sidelines, he responded, "Yeah, I'm fine. Guess I'm just having a bit of an off day. Plus I always store some extra clothes here, so it's all good."

She studied him for a moment. "That doesn't make it any less weird... but if you insist..."

**Recognized: Red Arrow-B06

"BOY FREAKING WONDER!" Robin's eyes widened behind his mask as an extremely angry archer was suddenly storming towards him.

"Maybe I should go..." he muttered, turning to flee. Wally didn't let him get far, though. Soon Robin found himself being pulled to his room at Mount Justice, leaving some very confused Teammates to stare after them.

Once in his room, Robin expected to be yelled at. Instead, Red Arrow turned to Kid Flash.

"Why did you let him come here?"

"Have you ever tried arguing with that kid? It's impossible!"

"That's no excuse, West!"

"Guys..." Dick tried to stop them.

"He said he was feeling better!"

"And you believed him?"

"HEY!" Dick screamed at them. "I'm right here, you know!"

"You shouldn't have come, Dick. You need some rest," Roy tried to reason.

"I know that, Roy," Dick said, sitting down on his bed. "Just... It wasn't Wally's fault, okay?"

"Okay. Fine," Roy said. He and Wally sat on either side of the bird, willing him to continue. Dick took off his sunglasses to rub his eyes.

"I just needed to forget about Bruce for awhile. Clear my head. Otherwise I would have gotten upset all over again." He looked at Roy, then Wally, pleadingly.  
"That's how I cope with things. You guys know that."

"Yeah, we do," admitted Wally, putting an arm around the boy. With a feeling of deja vu, Roy knelt down in front of Dick, forcing him to meet his eyes.

"I know that's how you cope, Bambi. But we can't help you if you don't tell us what _exactly _is going on. Do you think you can do that?" Dick slowly nodded.

"Good. Then let's head back to my place, you'll always be welcome there."

Black Canary chose that moment to know on the door, asking if everything was okay. Dick quickly put his glasses back on before Roy opened the door to face her.

"No, not exactly," he said. "But we're figuring it out, so could you give Robin and Kid Flash the day off?"

"Of course. But if there's anything I could do to help-"

"No, it's fine. We got it covered," Roy cut her off, pushing past her with Wally and Robin close behind. She stopped the two younger boys for a moment.

"Should I call your mentors, to let them know-"

"No!" All three boys chorused.

"Well, you can call Flash," Wally started. "Just, you know, don't call-"

"Batman. Don't call Batman," Roy finished for him, before all three hurried off.

"Well, okay then..." Dinah murmured, watching their retreating forms through narrowed eyes.

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**Short chapter, I know. But what's that? You want to see Ollie's confrontation with Bruce? I shall not disappoint.**

**P.S. Authors love reviews... *hint hint***


	6. Chapter 6

"You can't be serious, Bruce. He'd never do something like that!" Oliver exclaimed.

"That's what I thought, too. But not everybody turns out how you expect them to," a very angry Bruce Wayne growled. He had his cowl on, so technically he was Batman at the moment. However, the only people present were Oliver, Barry and Clark so he might as well quit the act.

"I can't see Dick hanging out with criminals, let alone becoming one," Clark spoke.

"Yet it's happened," Bruce retorted.

"Let me see if I got this straight," Barry said, rubbing his temples. "There was a new baddie around Gotham, so naturally you start to go after him. But all the clues led you to your own son-"

"Ward. And yes, they did."

"Right. Anyway, you refuse to believe that-"

"Because he's my son!" Bruce yelled.

"I thought he was your ward?" Oliver asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, yes. But... This is all just a big mess!" He cried, slamming his hand on a table.

"Anywhoo," Barry continued. "You kept the search from Dick, just in case. Then you set up cameras to catch the guy red-handed. Are you sure it was Dick in the pictures?"

"Take a look for yourself." He went over to the Batcomputer, quickly pulling up several photographs of different villains. Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow and a few others. The only similarity between all of them was that a young teenager was with each of them. Zooming in on his face, it was unmistakably Richard Grayson.

"What was he doing?" Oliver asked, dumbfounded.

"I don't know. I was too upset over seeing these that I-"

"Kicked him out before he could answer!" Oliver concluded, finally putting all of the pieces together. The rest of his fellow heroes stared at him. Bruce slowly got up from the computer.

"I never told you that I kicked him out," he said evenly. "How did you know that?"

"Uh, well," Oliver stuttered. "I guess I'm just a better detective than you thought."

"You know where Dick is, don't you?" Clark accused.

"No! Of course not! How would I know that?"

"Oliver," Bruce stated. "I know we all like him, me more than anyone else. But we need to find out what he was doing with those madmen." He only got angrier as he spoke. "We need to know why he would do this to us! Now where is he, Queen?!"

"Okay, I'll tell you. But first I want to say that maybe this isn't what it seems like. He was really upset that you kicked him out, Bruce..."

"Get on with it before I kick _you_ out."

"He's at Roy's place," Ollie finally sighed. He expected Batman to rush off to Star City, but it never happened. "Aren't you going to talk to him?" he finally asked.

"Yes," Bruce answered. "But not until nighttime. That's when I work."

"Dick isn't your 'work', Bruce," Clark objected. "He's like your son."

"Not as of now," Batman's monotone voice replied. "Until I get evidence proving Dick to be innocent, or even guilty, he's only another criminal to me. That's how I cope."

"So you'd let any other 'criminal' stay over with my ward?"

"Or my nephew?"

Bruce sighed as the archer and speedster continued to question his true objectivity. Finally, Clark shut them up.

"What are you going to do with him? You can't intimidate the answer out of him like other bad guys, he's pretty much immune. If you expect-"

"I don't know what I expect, Clark!" Bruce snapped. "I've never had Dick at the receiving end of my criminal interrogations before! Even Batman doesn't know the answer to everything."

The others looked at him with sympathy for a moment, then Oliver spoke up once again.

"No matter what, you should at least give Dick a chance. He's done nothing wrong before. Maybe this is just a huge misunderstanding."

"Evidence doesn't lie, Queen," Bruce growled.

"But it can be wrong," Barry pointed out. "And in this situation, let's hope that's the case."

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**What's that? You want to see Dick's point of view on the matter? Well, okay.**

**P.S. Authors love reviews... *hint hint***


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy Easter and April Fool's Day everyone!**

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"Tell us everything. Maybe then we can actually get this mess settled," Roy demanded from the extremely fidgety boy wonder.

They had finally made it back to his apartment. After they had left Mount Justice, Wally had mentioned being hungry and Dick insisted they stop somewhere to eat. When they got there, however, and the acrobat hardly ate a thing, Roy realized he was just trying to prolong when he'd have to explain himself.  
_  
Something's definitely up, _he thought, staring down the boy across the table. By the time they arrived back at Roy's, it was nearly dark. Now they were once again gathered in the living room, Roy standing with his arms crossed as Dick sat on the couch in front of him, refusing to meet his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, Wally snapped.

"Oh, come on, D!" He was clearly exacerbated. "It makes sense that you'd be all upset about being kicked out, but what aren't you telling us?! It's obvious you're hiding something, we know you way too well for you to try and lie! Why can't you just tell us?"

"Because I don't understand it myself!" Dick snapped back, standing up. He seemed to deflate after a moment, and sat back with a huff.

"About a month ago," he began, "I started to randomly black out. It just started with a couple dizzy spells, but it kept getting worse until I'd be out for hours at a time."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Roy asked.

"Because, it was only ever at night, after patrol. Or in the afternoons when I wasn't doing anything anyway. It always happened when nobody else was around. So I just kept it quiet. I didn't want to worry anyone."

"Worry anyone?!" Wally exclaimed. "Dudeyoushouldgoseeadoctorors omething! Itcouldbeserio-"

"What I think Flash Boy is trying to say," Roy interrupted, "is that you shouldn't take it so lightly. But for now, care to explain how this ties in with the situation at hand?"

"Yeah... okay," Dick took a deep breath before continuing. "It's been obvious that Bruce has been on edge about something, but he would always avoid my questions. Then, last night, I went down to the Batcave. It was right after I had woken up from passing out again. Bruce just started to get all mad at me for no reason!"

Roy and Wally could tell Dick was getting worked up again. "When I asked what he was talking about, he started yelling things about 'How could I do this to him?' or 'He thought he'd raised me better!' and 'Why would I lie to him?'. That's when I thought he was talking about me blacking out. He had found out about it somehow and was mad at me for not telling him."

His voice was becoming more strangled as he tried to keep himself together. "But when I tried to say something about it, he just got angrier and said I've just been a huge pain to him. That's when I got mad, and said It'd be better if... if I was gone and... and... you guys know... you know the rest." He struggled to keep his breathing under control as tears started to fall.

"Hey, it's okay. We'll figure it out, Bambi."

"Yeah. Roy-boy may be a hothead, but he's pretty smart. It's all good."

"No! It's not 'all good'!" Dick yelled, standing up and glaring at them through his tears. "You," he pointed at Wally, "have an awesome family that would do anything for you! And you," he shifted his hand to aim at Roy, "you _chose_ to leave Ollie! It was your decision! And you could go back anytime you want! I don't have that! My first family _died _and my new one doesn't want me anymore! I'm alone. I hate... being alone..."

With that, he crumbled, allowing Roy and Wally to sit him back down as they let him cry in silence. When he was calmed down enough to listen to them, it was Wally who spoke up.

"You really think you're on your own? Dick, you'll never be truly alone as long as we have a say in it. I mean, you still got us."

"Are you trying to comfort or scare him?" Roy mumbled, gaining a snort from Dick.

"Thanks guys..." He sniffled. "Sorry for being a mess. I got rejected from a few foster families before Bruce took me in, but they were mean so I was almost happy to leave. Now, having Bruce do it... I just don't know what to do."

"I vote we raid the Batcave and paint everything pink, maybe even Bedazzle it," Wally chimed. Dick smiled as he wiped the tear tracks off his face. He happened to glance out of Roy's one tiny window, and was surprised at how dark it was.

"When did it get so late?"

Wally immediately answered, "Time flies when you're... down in the dumps, I guess..."

"You need to get some sleep," Roy ordered. "We all do."

As they all stood up, Dick looked over to the window again. Just to find a dark figure staring right back at him through reflective lenses.

* * *

**What's that?** **You want to see Batman vs. Dick? That will be interesting...**

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	8. Chapter 8

Roy and Wally nearly jumped out of their skin at Batman's sudden appearance. However, Dick only reaction was his body tensing up.

All he could do was stare at his former mentor as he made his way towards the boys. Before he could get to Dick, Roy stepped between them.

"Don't you dare do anything else stupid, Wayne," he growled. Batman only narrowed his eyes at the archer. "I'm serious," Roy continued. "I may be a hothead, but even I can tell that we should clarify a few things before this gets out of hand."

"Then allow me to clarify _this,_" Batman finally spoke. "Richard has been involved in various criminal activities. I'm only here to find out why."

All three boys were shocked. Roy and Wally turned to look at Dick, who looked just as confused as they were. Then his face turned into one of anger.

"I WHAT?" He yelled, storming over to Batman. "Criminal activities?! You have got to be kidding me! Was you kicking me out just some stupid joke?" He was positively seething, waiting for his "mentor" to answer him. Batman glared down at him for a few seconds more, before pulling out several pictures, handing them to the bird.

"Explain, now," he stated simply, not seeming to care that it was his own ward he was talking to. Dick angrily grabbed the pictures from him. While looking through them, his expression changed from one of anger to confusion. The other two boys in the room peeked over his shoulder, and were baffled by what they saw.

"Those are proof of where you've been," Batman growled. "Now, what I want to know, is what you were doing." Dick looked up at him, dumbstruck. He could feel Roy and Wally's eyes staring down at him.

"I don't know," he whispered. "That _can't_ be me... I wouldn't..."

Dick looked so lost, Bruce felt himself waver. However, he just steeled himself and kept going.

"At the time each of these was taken, you were unaccounted for. Neither I, Alfred or anyone else was with you at any of those given times. You have no alibi."

When he mentioned the time, Dick's eyes seemed to widen, and he quickly started going through the photos again. This time, however, he focused on the times printed in the corner. He vaguely heard Roy start to question Batman and whether he was serious, but Dick's mind was too busy working on overdrive to really hear it.  
_  
4:30 pm Tuesday, 1:30 am Wednesday, 5:00 pm Thursday... All these times fit. _He thought. _Ah, crap..._

"Guys," he finally spoke, looking up to his two brothers. "You remember me telling you about my blackouts?"

"Yeah... why?" Wally asked, not catching on. Roy seemed to realize it, though.

"What blackouts?" Batman demanded. Dick looked at him pleadingly.

"I've... I've been blacking out a lot lately..." he muttered. "I didn't think it was a big deal, so I didn't say anything... But, with these pictures... Bruce, the timing fits! I was always alone when it happened, so I didn't tell anyone. That's what I thought you kicked me out for... You were mad that I hid it from you."

"You have no recollection of meeting with any of these criminals?"

"No... I didn't know!" Dick started getting frantic. "If these are right, what the heck is going on?! I swear, I didn't-"

"It's okay, Bambi," Roy said, putting his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "We believe you."

"It doesn't matter if you believe me or not!" Dick yelled at him. "If I'm turning into some psychotic baddie, THAT'S A PROBLEM, ROY!"

"Richard-" Batman began before being cut off.

"Stop calling me that!" Dick demanded. "I'm not 'Richard' to _you _of all people."

Batman sighed. "_Dick,_ how do I know you're not lying about all of this?"

"You-" Dick started, furrowing his eyebrows. "I guess you don't," he said, defeatedly. "But I've never lied to you before..." As he looked down at the boy he considered a son, Bruce couldn't help but believe him.

"Batcave, now," he said. Three pairs of eyes stared back at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

"If you really have been blacking out for each of these events, then there might be something in your system. We'll run some tests to try and figure it out." Dick stared at him for a second more, before smiling lightly.

"Thank you, Bruce," he said quietly. If years of experience were anything to go by, Batman could tell he was being sincere. Giving him a small nod, he told the boys to meet him at Star City's main Zeta Tube, then he was off.

When they still hadn't shown up, half an hour later, Batman started to question whether he had done the right thing. He was about to go looking for them when a blurry figure rounded the corner. Wally came skidding to a halt in front of him, his eyes frantic.

"Batman, it's Dick. He attacked us."

* * *

**What's that? You're freaking out and want to know what's going on? I might be able to do that...**

**Reviews are always nice! So are shiny things...**


	9. Chapter 9

By the time Wally led Batman to ally he had left Roy and Dick fighting in, only the archer was there. He was picking himself off the ground, looking stunned.

"What happened?" Batman demanded as Wally helped Roy to his feet.

"I don't know," they said together. Wally began to pace as Roy rubbed his temples.

"Everything was fine," the older boy began. "We were coming to meet you, and Dick finally seemed a bit happier."

"Then he just went CRAZY!" Wally exclaimed. "Hetotallyjustwentallninjaonu sand-"

"Shut up, West," Batman grumbled. His relatively good mood from before was gone. "Harper, you explain."

"Like I said, he was fine!" Now Roy was pacing too. "For no reason at all, he just stopped walking and stared into space for a minute. We couldn't get him to focus. When he finally snapped out of it, he just attacked us!" Both boys were even more confused than they'd been when Wally first brought Dick to Roy place, less than 24 hours previously.

"Where is he now?" Batman demanded.

"Heck if I know. After Wally went to get you, he went ninja on me and left."

"Did he say anything?"

"Nothing. He didn't even seem to care that it was us he was fighting."

Nobody said anything for several moments.

Wally couldn't believe it. He'd been there with Dick through thick and thin, and the attack came as a shock. Roy wasn't faring much better. He was worried about the kid who had become like his brother. Bambi could get himself killed! Then again... What if Batman's accusations were right? Roy didn't think so, but... looking at the Dark Knight, he wasn't so sure. Although Batman's face remained stoic, the person behind the mask was crushed. When did all of this start to happen? How had he let his own son become a criminal without even noticing? Bruce closed his eyes for a moment, just letting the black surround him...  
_  
The blackouts! _He remembered, his eyes snapping open. _If he was telling the truth, and really doesn't remember any of this... then..._

"We have to find Dick," Batman suddenly spoke, startling everyone and beginning to walk away from the two redheads.

"Why, so you can put him in jail?" Wally demanded, zipping in front to the retreating figure. "I know this is bad, but-"

"Did you not understand anything we said back at Harper's apartment?" Batman interrupted. "If Dick keeps blacking out, and truly doesn't recall doing anything wrong, there may be something in his system. Which would mean-"

"Somebody put it there," Roy finished for him, realization starting to dawn on him. "But nothing like that has happened on any of the Team's missions. So it was when he was with you in Gotham?"

"Not that I know of," Batman continued as he headed towards the Zeta Tube, Roy and Wally following. "As of right now, the best way to figure this out is by finding Dick and running some tests. The Bat Computer can access any video security footage in Star City. We'll see if we can track where he went."

"We can call our mentors!" Wally added. "We can use all the help we can get, right?"

"I'd rather not," Batman stated. "They-"

"Could help," Roy put in. "I know you're stubborn as heck, I'm the same way, but Wally's right. We all care about Bambi. Plus, Dick's a miniature ninja. We might need the extra hands."

By now, the two teenagers were standing in front of Batman, blocking his way. They all just stared at each other for a minute, before Batman spoke up.

"Okay," He said, pushing roughly through them.

"Wow. I thought that would be a lot harder," he heard Wally whisper to Roy.

Bruce would never admit it, but they were right. That doesn't mean, however, they had to know that.

As they finally arrived at the Zeta, Roy once again stopped Batman before he could walk into it.

"What if there isn't anything in his system?" He asked warily.

"Then he did this of his own accord. If that's the case... I failed him."

Roy thought he heard sadness coming from the ever-stoic Dark Knight, but the Zeta Tube flashed him away before he could be sure.

* * *

**What's that? You want to see a bunch of superheroes arguing with each other? _And_ you want to see Dick's point of view? Sounds awesome to me.**

**Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, I Wrote you a Poem, So you should Review!**


	10. Chapter 10

To say having four arguing superheroes and two teenaged red-heads in the Batcave were enough to annoy Alfred would be an understatement. Yet he was deceivingly calm, preferring to keep himself busy bringing more and more food for the two speedsters.

Roy was the exact opposite of the calm butler. It had only been fifteen minutes since Flash, Superman, and Green Arrow had arrived, and he already wanted to kill them all. After the twentieth time of hearing that the camera on 5th Street was slow, he finally snapped.

"Will all of you just SHUT UP!" Making sure they were all paying attention to him, he continued. "Why would the cameras even matter anymore? He'll have been long gone by now."

"We can at least see what direction he went," Bruce answered, just as annoyed with everything as Roy. It didn't help that he'd been sulking ever since they got to the Batcave.

"Then why aren't you doing that?!" Roy yelled back.

"Because the camera on 5th Street is slow!" The heroes responded at once.

"Dude, even I knew that," Wally added, only adding to Roy's annoyance.

"Wait a sec," Clark suddenly said, squinting at the computer. "Is that him?" Everybody crowded around the computer to see what he was talking about.

There was a guy with flowers... A hyperactive druggie... And Dick Grayson getting into a Taxi with a suitcase. A suitcase that he didn't have before. When they saw that, Batman quickly started typing on the keyboard, scanning each street camera for a Taxi with the same license plate.

"There," Barry pointed at the screen. "He left town heading that way."

"And that way is...?" Wally asked.

"South," Batman answered.

"I really hate to say this," Green Arrow announced. "But that's where most of our runaway baddies head if they want to get away..."

"What the heck, Oliver?!" Roy snapped. "We don't need more people thinking Dick actually did this! What, is Wally going to go evil next? Or-"

"I'm just stating a fact, Roy. He-"

"Are you guys really going to do this now?" Barry interrupted.

"Yes! Since Oliver has no trust in me!"

"What? How did you get to that? I was talking about Dick-"

"That's just as bad! He's my brother and you-"

"I'M AFRAID I MUST ASK YOU BOTH TO QUIET DOWN," said a voice from behind.

Everyone turned to Alfred, surprised to hear him be so assertive.

"While you are all behaving like children, there is a very good young man out there who may very well be in a dire situation. If I may suggest, the Arrows should stop fighting, the Flashes should stop eating, and Master Bruce should stop sulking. If that is not a possibility, please let me know now so I can go out to find Master Dick myself."

Everything was quiet for a moment, as Alfred continued to stare down the group of wide-eyed heroes. Finally, Bruce got up, pulling his cowl over his head.

"Flash and Kid Flash, run ahead to see if you can find any traces of where that Taxi went. Green and Red Arrow, you know the area best. Check out any hideaways or suspicious locations you know of along that road. Superman, do something else useful. I'll run a scan of the area for any abnormal technological signals. Report back every fifteen minutes."

"Do feel free to actually use your heads for once," Alfred added as they all headed towards the Zeta Tube.

"So that's where Batman gets if from," Wally muttered to himself as the flash of light enveloped him.

* * *

Dick slowly blinked his eyes open. When his vision stopped being blurry, he found that he was staring up at a canopy of trees.

_What the heck?_ He thought, as he pushed himself up. Looking around, he could only see trees at first. It wasn't until a car passed by that he realized there was a road a ways off.

"How did I..." he muttered to himself before he remembered. He continued murmuring to himself as he made his way towards the road. "Okay. I was with at Roy's place... Then Bruce came. Oh! We were meeting him at the Zeta Tube... Then... then..." Dick paused at the edge of the road, realizing that he couldn't remember anything else. Checking himself, he was still in his civilian gear, but didn't have any of his gadgets that he always carried with him anyway.

"If this is some kind of joke, it's not very whelming" he said. "If it isn't... then it's _really_ not whelming." It was still dark, so he knew he hadn't been unconcious for too long. A little ways down the road, he was able to make out a sign for Coast City.

"Coast City?! That's at least fifty miles away from Star! What the heck happened tonight..." Dick sighed before starting down the road to Coast City.

_I guess I can just call Bruce from there,_ he thought, already beginning to prepare for what might be a _very_ long day.

* * *

**What is that I hear? You want to see what is in Dick's system that makes him go all weird? I just may do that...**

**Reviews make me a really happy camper! Unhappy campers are mean and burn all the hot dogs...**


	11. Chapter 11

"Has anyone found anything yet?" Batman asked over his comm. link. Once in California**, the group of heroes had split up to do their different tasks. They had been at it for nearly two hours already, with no luck.

"Nothing here," Flash responded.

"Or here," Kid Flash added.

"Nothing," Superman reported.

"None of the normal hideouts have any clues either," Green Arrow stated. "Any luck with the techy stuff?"

"No," Batman answered. "Come back here. We need to think of a new strategy."

Shutting of his comm., the Dark Knight sighed. He was tired, physically and mentally. He knew the others must be the same, but he also knew that none of them would quit until they found Dick.

Wally and Roy had made it plainly obvious that they truly believed Dick was just being manipulated somehow. Clark, Oliver and Barry wanted to think that too, but seemed to be trying to ignore the situation all together. As for Bruce, he just wanted to find his son and prove him innocent. After seeing how his ward reacted in Roy's apartment, he just couldn't bring himself to think that Dick was doing it of his own accord. The only tricky part would be figuring out how to fix whatever had been done to him.

Sighing again as the Flashes zoomed into sight, Batman found himself wishing all of this was just over already. Or better yet, had never happened. Superman arrived, and as the four heroes waited for the last two, Batman's phone began to ring. Wait... Batman had a comm. link, not a phone. It was _Bruce's_ phone that he found himself answering.

"I'm a bit busy at the moment," Batman said, instantly becoming Bruce Wayne again.

"And I'm extremely confused. Now we understand each other," said the voice on the other end of the line.

"Dick?" Bruce asked, catching the attention of his fellow heroes.

"No, Mark Twain. Who else would be calling you at two thirty in the morning?"

"I'm really not in the mood for your sarcasm, Dick. Now, where are you?"

"A telephone booth on the edge of Coast City."

"How on earth did you get there?" Bruce grumbled. Off to the side, Kid Flash seemed to be nearly vibrating out of his skin.

"I was really hoping you could tell me that. I blanked out on the way to meet you a Star's Zeta Tube. I have no idea what's going on."

Sighing for what seemed like the millionth time, Bruce told Dick to stay put before hanging up and turning to the rest of his crew, who were paying rapt attention.

"He's in Coast City and says he doesn't recall anything that happened."

"Well, let's go then!" Wally said, about to zoom away.

"Hold!" Batman ordered before he could leave. "You and your mentor go get the Arrows first. We're all going together, in case anything goes wrong."

* * *

Fortunately, nothing went wrong for once. Dick was standing outside the booth when they all got there. He was relieved to see that none of them really seemed angry, just worried. Using a Zeta Tube in Coast City that no one knew existed but Batman, it wasn't long until they were all back at the Batcave.

"So, time to stab me with a bunch of needles?" Dick asked.

"If you think you can handle it," Bruce responded, pulling off his cowl. The rest of the heroes had already done the same, hoping it would make Dick feel better about the whole situation.

It was obvious to everyone that he was pretty shaken up over everything they had told him he did that night. He was even more worried about what he could've done that they didn't know about.

As Alfred and Bruce performed multitudes of tests on the bird, Roy and Wally made sure to keep him distracted by talking nonstop. Barry, Clark and Oliver attempted to join in, but they couldn't stop noticing the increasing frown on Bruce's face as he continued the tests. After nearly an hour, Bruce finally announced he was done.

"Well, doctor, what's wrong with me?" Dick asked, good naturedly.

"Nothing," Bruce said stoically.

"W-What?" Dick asked, dumbfounded.

"There's nothing wrong with you," was the cold answer he got. "There is nothing in your whole body that could have caused any of this. Meaning you did it on your own."

* * *

**Plot twist! What's that? You need an explanation? I'll think about it.**

****Star City in in California. A lot pf people seem to think Star, Central and Gotham are all right next to each other, but they're not. Star City is in California, Central City is in Missouri, and Gotham City is in New Jersey. Just thought I'd make that clear. **

**Reviews are always nice. So are cookies, but that's besides the point.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for the late update. I went out of town and, sadly, do not own a laptop.  
**

* * *

Dick felt his stomach drop as six pairs of eyes all turned to look at him.

"W-what?! You're joking, right?" He asked, looking around to everyone jerkily. "Because there's NO way that-"

"Yes, there is," Batman cut him off. "There is absolutely nothing in your system."

By now, the shock that had come over the group was starting to fade, and the others in the room began to respond.

"Are you sure, Bruce?" Barry asked, unbelieving.

"I know Dick didn't do this!" Wally nearly yelled.

"But he did," Batman continued to say, pulling his cowl back on. "I checked his blood, muscle tissue, brain tissue, nervous system, everything. And for the last time, there's nothing there."

As Flash and Green Arrow continued questioning Batman, who kept his gaze focused on Dick, Roy and Wally attempted to keep their brother from panicking. However, halfway through the conversation, DIck fell silent and his gaze went out of focus. Batman thought he had gone into shock, but the alarmed faces of the two younger heroes told him otherwise.

"Uh... Batman..." Wally started, looking up at the Dark Knight. "This is what he did before in the alley..."

"It's an act," Batman growled, walking closer. "He's not actually being control-"

He was cut off as Dick suddenly slammed his foot into Wally's back, causing him to stumble forward into Batman. As Roy attempted to restrain him, the bird only used the table to launch himself over the archer, kicking him the the head as he went past.

Flash ran to the other side of the room as he and Green Arrow tried to surround him. However, as the archer loosed an arrow at him, Dick ducked, causing the foam arrow to encase Flash instead. Dick was able to get to a table which had an extra utility belt laying on it, but as he turned towards the Zeta Tube, he found he was blocked by the Man of Steel himself.

"Dick, please. We're your friends," Superman tried reasoning. Dick's eyes remained cold as he quickly retrieved a piece of kryptonite from a pocket in the belt and ran past Superman, who was unable to fight it.

The bird was gone in a flash of light, just as Batman threw a bola at him. However, it missed by only a fraction of a second. Batman ran to the Zeta Tube to pursue him, but found that it would not work.

"He fried the program," He told the others. "We can't follow him."

"Then what do we do?" Green Arrow asked, helping Superman up. Behind them, Flash was vibrating out of the foam and Roy and Wally were picking themselves up.

"I can track where he went," Batman said as he went over to the Batcomputer. "We can use that to alert any hero in that vicinity."

"So _now_ you want to bring other heroes into this," Roy grumbled.

"Yes. He's a criminal now, and we will not let him get away," Batman responded, typing away at his computer.

"We'll find him and capture him, we always do," Flash stated, looking over the Dark Knight's shoulder.

In the background, Roy and Wally stared at them, disbelieving.

"They really think he did it," Wally whispered.

"That doesn't mean he did," Roy responded, equally as quiet. "But for now, let's work with them to find Bambi. He needs us. We'll figure out a way to prove him innocent along the way."

"What if we can't? I know he didn't do this, but-"

"We will. We have to."

Everyone stopped talking as Batman announced he found where the Zeta went.

"Well?" Superman asked. "Where did Dick go?"

"Mount Justice."

* * *

To say that Black Canary was a bit suspicious would be an understatement. What with Roy, Wally and Dick not wanting to talk to Batman yesterday, and Oliver leaving the house the night before without telling her why, she was downright annoyed. To make matters worse, Dick had arrived at the mountain just a few minutes before, which wouldn't have been odd if it wasn't for the fact that he had no sunglasses on and went sprinting to his room.

Dinah had finally had enough of being in the dark, and decided to call Oliver and demand he tell her what was going on. Just before she could, however, the monitor showed that there was an incoming message from the Batcave.

_I suppose Batman can answer my questions too_, she thought as she opened the message, the Dark Knight appearing on the screen.

"Batman, I-"

"If Richard is still there, restrain him immediately. As of now, that is the League's number one priority."

Dinah was officially confused. "Wait. What's going-"

"There!" Batman yelled. Turning around, Dinah could see Robin, now in his hero suit, standing in the doorway with the rest of the Team. When he saw Batman's face on the monitor, he suddenly turned tail and sprinted down the hallway, shoving the others out of his way.

"Stop standing there and GO!" Batman yelled.

Making a decision she hoped she wouldn't regret, Black Canary turned back to the confused group of teenagers.

"Team, new mission: Do not let Robin leave this mountain. Restrain him and do not let him get away."

* * *

**What's that? You want to see the Team get involved? Tune in next time!**

**Reviews are like a Brown Bear. Greatly loved, yet few in number. **

**P.S. If anyone lives near or is going to Ashland, Oregon, make sure to see the new musical: The Unforunates. It is BY FAR the best thing I've ever seen in my life, and was totally worth the five hours to get there.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the late update. Life decided to punch me in the face. Warning: Blood in this chapter. Not much, but I thought you should know.  
**

* * *

Kaldur didn't know what exactly was going on, but he trusted Black Canary. So when she told them to restrain Robin, he immediately kicked into action.

"Team, split up and cover every possible exit of the mountain. Miss Martian, link us up."

Listening for once, each team member went off in a different direction towards the various exits of the mountain. Aqualad stayed behind with Black Canary to help defend the main Zeta system, and to hopefully find out what was happening.

_Miss Martian_, he thought. _Can you connect to Robin's mind?_

_That's what's weird_, was her response. _I can't seem to locate him at all. Even if he was blocking me, I should still be able to feel him, but I can't._

Worriedly looking back to Black Canary, he asked, "Is this a training exercise?"

"I sure hope so," Canary responded, turning back to where Batman was on the screen.

"This is no exercise," he growled. "Robin has gone rogue, and must be taken into custody immediately. The Flashes will arrive momentarily to assist you. I will be there as soon as the Gotham Zeta's are back online." The screen then shut off, leaving Canary and Aqualad to process what they were just told.

_Aqualad, I have him cornered in the library_, Artemis's voice suddenly came into his head. _I'm not sure where exactly, but he's in here. What do you want us to do?_

Before responding, Kaldur glanced at Black Canary uncertainly.

"He is my friend..."

"Then don't hurt him," she said, calmly. "Just restrain him until we get more information."

He nodded, then turned his mind back to his waiting teammates.

_Restrain him. But be careful. For now, he is still our friend._

_What do you mean 'for now'?_ Superboy asked. Kaldur paused for a second before answering.

_I will explain later. Keep your mind on the mission. Do not let him get aw-_

_Too late_, Artemis interrupted. _He went through some tunnel behind the bookshelf. Talk about stereotypical._

_Let us think for a moment_, Aqualad said. _What is Robin's most likely way of escape?_

_His motorcycle!_ A new voice suddenly stated.

_Oh, great,_ Artemis drawled. _Baywatch is here._

_Nice to hear you too, Artie,_ Wally responded before switching back to the problem at hand. _He's going to go for his R-cycle. We need to get to there, now._

The whole Team immediately started running towards the loading dock where Robin kept his gadgets. Aqualad gave Black Canary a quick nod before heading there himself. He was hoping to speak to Robin himself before learning about what was happening from some other hero. He did not want to lose his friend's trust if this all happened to be a huge misunderstanding.

Even with Wally's speed, Artemis got to the room first, because she was just a room away beforehand. Arriving just in time to see Robin start to ride away through the exit, she quickly nocked an arrow, aiming for one of the wheels of the bike. Just as she was about to let the arrow fly, Kid Flash zoomed in behind her. That would have been fine if it hadn't been for the fact that he didn't stop in time, and ended up barreling into her. The impact jostled the direction of the arrow as Artemis loosed it, and it went flying.

As the two heroes picked themselves up, they were horrified to see that the arrow had gone right through Robin's shoulder, knocking him off balance and off his bike. Wally immediately went into big brother mode, and zipped over to help Robin up. He was only met with a punch to the face as Robin continued to defend himself, even with a bloody arrow protruding from his shoulder.

"Rob, I know you're in there, dude," Kid Flash tried saying. The bird stayed in his defensive position, unresponsive to his best friend's words. "I don't want to fight you while you're hurt, so please just-" He was forced to cut himself short as a batarang whizzed past his head.

Robin was about to throw another one when his eyes suddenly went wide, then shut a moment later. He fell to his knees, and would have face planted onto the ground if Kid Flash didn't catch him. The speedster looked up just in time to see Miss Martian put her hand down, and her eyes fade back to their normal color. The rest of the Team was behind her.

"What did you do to him?" Artemis asked from behind Wally.

"I-I'm so sorry," Megan said sadly. "He's only unconscious. He asked me to..."

Conner looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean? I thought you couldn't connect to him?"

"He-"

"Can we talk about this later?" Wally interrupted. "He losing a lot of blood, and fast."

"Right," Aqualad stepped in. "All of you, get him to the infirmary and keep an eye on him. I'll go get Canary and see if Batman has arrived yet. And Kid Flash," he called out as the others began to leave. "Tell us what is going on from your point of view via the mind link. I trust Batman, but he tends to be a bit... overdramatic."

Kid Flash nodded grimly, something unusual for him, before carefully carrying his bloody best friend to the Medical Bay.

* * *

**What's that? Will they actually find out what's wrong with him? Maybe...  
****  
A/N: Sorry to all of you who want Chalant in here. Zatanna isn't going to be in the story since she came later to the show. There won't be any relationships at all, actually. Just family drama/fluff.**

Roses are red, Violets are blue, I'm bad at rhyming, Reviews are awesome.


	14. Chapter 14

"You SHOT him?!" Was the first thing Red Arrow yelled as he burst into the hallway outside the Medical Bay. The entire Team was there, waiting to hear word about how Robin was doing. Canary had called Red Tornado, and now both of them and Flash were in there, fixing his shoulder.

Aqualad made sure to inform Batman of what was happening before joining his Team to wait. The Gotham Zeta's had apparently been more trouble than initially thought, because Batman and the Arrows had only just arrived.

"You freaking _shot_ him?!" The seething archer repeated, glaring at Artemis.

"It's not like I aimed for him!" She yelled back. "If Kid Idiot didn't run into me-"

"Enough!" Batman bellowed, entering behind Roy. "You all did your duties, good job."

"But we hurt him," Miss Martian said.

"Sometimes injury is unavoidable when capturing a criminal," Batman said monotonically, walking past the group of teenagers into the Medical Bay. The Team exchanged uneasy glances as he and Green Arrow disappeared behind the double doors. Once they were gone, Red Arrow spoke up again.

"Look, he's not actually a criminal," he started.

"We understand that," Kaldur assured him. "Wally has told us what exactly is going on. We all agree with you. Robin would do no such thing. I know that."

Roy gave out a huff of relief. "Good. The last thing we need is even more people against him."

"Does the whole League believe he's evil?" Artemis asked.

"It seems like it," Wally responded. "Even Batman, although he seems to be in more of an angry denial type thing than actually upset."

"He seemed like normal Batman to me," Conner stated.

Wally shrugged tiredly. "You learn to read him a lot better when your best friend is Robin."

"You look exhausted, my friend," Kaldur said.

"We've been awake for about two or three days now," Red Arrow explained. "We're both running on a boat load of coffee and energy bars. I can't imagine how tired Robin must be."

"Probably better, now," Black Canary said from behind them. They hadn't even noticed the doors open. "He's resting at the moment, but you can still come see him if you'd like."

The Team followed her through the doors to the bed their youngest was currently on. He had thick bandages around his shoulder, and an IV in his hand. Other than that, he looked peaceful. What surprised them the most, however, was the fact that he wasn't wearing anything over his eyes. Not that they could tell who he was with his eyes closed, but it just made him look so much younger.

"I always forget that he's only thirteen," M'gann whispered. She glanced across the room, where Black Canary, Red Tornado, Batman, Flash, Green Arrow and Superman were talking. "How can they believe he did this on purpose?"

"I guess it's up to us to prove otherwise, as always," grumbled Artemis.

"How do we even begin to do that?" Wally sat down in a huff, his eyes not leaving his unconscious friend.

"M'gann said she contacted him, maybe that can help," Conner suggested.

"Hello Megan! That could totally help!" Megan exclaimed. Several of the Leaguers looked over at her strangely before continuing their conversation.

"You talked to him?" Red Arrow whispered, not wanting to draw any more attention to them.

"Well, not much," she said quietly. "It was strange. At first I couldn't sense him at all, like he wasn't here. It wasn't until he got hit by the arrow that he was suddenly there. He was struggling with something, but the only thing I could really make out was him asking me to shut him down. He was in a lot pain, so I listened."

"Struggling with something?" Wally asked, sitting up straighter. "Like mind control? 'Cause that's what we initially thought."

"It's not any kind that I've seen before," M'gann answered. "There was no other presence. It was only him. But there was something wrong. He was fighting something. I just don't know what."

Everyone stopped talking as Black Canary walked up.

"How are all of you faring?" she asked.

"I believe we are all more worried about Robin," Kaldur told her.

"Of course," she began. "Well, his shoulder should be perfectly fine. It will hurt for awhile, but nothing worse. However, the arrow did chip his bone pretty well. We're running some tests to make sure it doesn't get infected. They take some time to complete, though, so I suggest you all try to get some sleep. Robin will be out for awhile, so there's no need to worry about him."

"What are you going to do with him once he does wake up?" Artemis asked.

Canary sighed. "We don't know. Hopefully get some answers. We don't want to turn him in while his shoulder is still like that."

"So you still think he's evil, huh?" Roy said coldly.

"There is no other option," Batman growled, walking up behind Black Canary. "So I suggest you get used to it. Now, as Canary said, get some rest."

M'gann looked ready to tell the older hero everything they had discussed, but stopped herself after a quick look at Red Arrow. Slowly and silently, the Team filed out of the Medical Bay. Batman looked back to where Dick was laying.

"Why would he do this?" He asked more to himself than anyone.

"I'm so sorry, Bruce," Dinah said, equally as quiet. The Leaguers followed the Team out, having decided to get some sleep themselves. Only Superman stayed behind to keep first watch in case Dick woke up.

* * *

Dick slowly opened his eyes, not quite sure of anything except the fact that he was extremely tired. He blinked a few times as his vision adjusted to the bright lights of the... Medical Bay? How had he gotten here? Confused, Dick glanced around silently. He finally saw Flash over on the other side of the room. The boy wonder was about to call out to him when he remembered.

_They think I went rogue_, he realized. The thought struck him hard. Suddenly, a thousand thoughts seemed to race through his mind, but one in particular stood out.

_I have to get out of here._

Based on the confrontation in the Batcave, Dick could tell that no one would believe his blackout story anymore, even if it was the truth. So where would he go?

_M'gann..._ He thought. He realized he had a fuzzy memory that must have been during a blackout. His eyes widened as they recalled what had happened, but it only made him even more determined to prove himself innocent.

Glancing back to Flash, he could see that the older hero hadn't noticed he was awake yet. He was too busy with some science-looking stuff on the monitor to notice Dick slowly sit up, grimacing as his shoulder flared in pain. He winced as he pulled the IV out of his hand, then quietly stepped onto the floor. He looked down to see that he was only wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, but that just made it easier to stay silent.

Luckily, Flash was on the side of the room farthest from the door, and had his back to Dick. Glancing back one last time, the boy wonder vaguely wondered what the strange cells Flash was looking at were, before slipping out the door to go to M'gann's room.

* * *

"No way," Barry muttered to himself. He couldn't stop staring at the monitor, shocked yet extremely excited. He had been the fourth watch, and nearly a day had passed since Dick had fallen unconscious. He had finally finished the bone tests to check for infection, but the result was most definitely not what he had expected. It was even better.

_Well, I guess it's actually pretty bad,_ he thought. _But hey! Dick's not evil!_

A smile overtook his face. "Hey! Robin's not evil!" He said out loud to the empty air. Turning around, he continued, "Hey Dick! You're not-" His smile fell from his face as he was met with an empty cot.

"-evil... Oh, crud."

* * *

**What's that? You _finally _want to know what Flash found out? Deal.**

**Roses are red, Violets are blue, I'll just keep doing this stupid poem, Until you Review.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Life punched me again. I'm really sorry. Hopefully this was worth the wait.  
**

* * *

"But why?" Dick asked, looking between Wally, Roy and M'gann desperately. It had been about half an hour since he had been able to sneak into M'gann's room, nearly giving her a heart attack. She had been happy about learning his secret identity, but was even more excited about just him being awake.

After confirming that she indeed trusted him, M'gann was about to call the rest of the Team before Dick stopped her. He was thrilled that they were all on his side, but he couldn't get the fact that he was Dick Grayson, and not Robin, out of his mind. He trusted them, and figured that now was as good a time as any to tell them his ID, but he wanted to figure a few things out with M'gann's help first before having to deal with that. So he had had her just wake up Roy and Wally, who were the only two still asleep.

By the time they had gotten there, M'gann had told Dick everything that he had done, and Dick was already done explaining what he wanted the martian to do.

A lot of good that was. Which is what brings us to our current situation.

"Why don't I have any memories?" Dick repeated. "Shouldn't I remember something from the blackouts?"

"If it was mind control, then yes," M'gann explained. "But I looked through your memories like you asked me to, and I couldn't find anything from those points in time. So that rules mind control out."

"Well, what is it then?!" Dick said, running a hand through his hair as he stood up. "Am I just going crazy then?!" His voice rose as he continued. "Am I just going to become the next Joker or something?!"

"Dick! Dick! Calm down!" Wally spoke, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder to keep him from pacing. "I mean, seriously, if you haven't gone crazy by now I don't see why you suddenly would."

"Gee, thanks Wally."

"Okay, I didn't really think that through. But maybe we should call the rest of the Team. Maybe they have some ideas that we don't."

"Yeah, maybe," Dick sighed. He gave a small smile in light of the situation. "Artie is going to love this..."

* * *

And, surprisingly, she did. Normally, she would have been angry, but given the circumstances, she was just glad Dick wasn't trying to attack them anymore. So instead, when she saw Richard Grayson standing in Miss Martian's room, she just chuckled and said "You're a little troll. Don't think you're off the hook for this one."

Conner and Kaldur didn't care too much about his identity, seeing as how they didn't know who Dick Grayson was beforehand. To save precious time, he told them he'd talk about his ginormous backstory some other time.

Altogether, the entire reunion was much less eventful than Dick thought it would be, and he wondered why he had been so worried about it. He was happy though. One less thing to deal with. Even though they had all just gotten there, each teenager had several ideas over what was going on. Ideas that were immediately proved wrong when M'gann told them that there was no mind control involved.

While brainstorming, they were suddenly interrupted when a frantic knocking sounded on the door.

"Megan!" they heard Flash yell. "Megan! I can't find the others and Robin is gone and are you in there? Please!" M'gann hesitated a moment before calling back.

"Yes, I'm here. Uh... where do you think he went?" Everyone held their breath as they waited for his response.

"I don't know! But I do know what's wrong with him so can I come in?!"

"WHAT?" Everyone in the room yelled. M'gann immediately used her telekinesis to yank the door open, nearly tearing it off it's hinges and causing Flash to jump.

"Dick!" Flash yelled as he ran and threw his arms around the small teen, being careful not to hurt his shoulder. "I'm sooo glad I found you! Bats would've killed me!"

"You haven't contacted Bruce?" Dick asked, pulling away from the man he considered an uncle.

"Well... no, not exactly," Flash said sheepishly. "I was supposed to be watching you, and thought that if I found you fast enough, Bats wouldn't have to kno- Wait, you just called him Bruce."

"Yeah, the cat's kind of out of the bag on that one," Dick sighed. "But, more importantly, you figured things out?"

"Oh! Right! That is kinda important. C'mon, it's better to see it for yourself."

* * *

"See?" Flash exclaimed, gesturing toward the large monitor of the Medical Bay.

"Uh... yeah, I see. I just don't know what I'm seeing," Roy grumbled.

"Oh, crud," Wally said, moving closer to the screen. "Are those what I think they are?"

"Unfortunately," his uncle confirmed.

"Is anyone going to explain?!" Dick said, exacerbated. "All I see are funny-looking cells on top of bigger cells."

"Exactly," Flash began. "The bigger cells are from the piece of bone that the arrow chipped from your shoulder. These smaller ones," he zoomed in as he said this, "look weird because they're not cells. They're microscopic robots."

"What?" Dick frowned. "But Bruce did all sorts of tests, and those weren't there."

"Yes, they were. He just didn't do a bone test because they take _forever,_ and the likelihood of anything being there was tiny."

"Obviously," Conner grumbled.

"Anyway," Flash continued. "If there were this many of these things on such a small portion of bone, they're most likely covering your entire skeletal system. They can literally take you over at any time."

"That's gross," Wally mumbled.

Dick began rubbing his temples. "So it _is_ mind control? Then why can I never remember anything?"

"Because it's not mind control," Flash attempted to explain again. "Look, I could get all medical on you, but the bottom line is that these things are connected to your _bones._ Not your brain, not your nervous system; but instead, your actual _core structure_. So when they take control of you, they really only control your movements. They can push your physical abilities to the limit, without your mind having any say so in the matter. So it's like... body control, I guess. I know that sounds weird, but that's what's happening."

"If my mind was untouched, shouldn't I be able to remember that?!" Dick yelled, on the verge of a complete freak out.

"No, actually," Flash said. "The brain is what normally controls bone movement. It's a pretty massive job. Whenever these robots suddenly take over that job, the brain would go into a frenzy trying to regain control. Ultimately, it just shuts itself down from the shock, which is why you can't talk while it's happening, or remember squat afterwards."

"And why I couldn't mentally contact you!" M'gann realized. "But... I could at the last second. Why?"

"Because of the arrow," Flash said. "When that arrow hit you, it brought in an outside force that was able to, well, shock your brain out of it's shock. But only momentarily."

"Just enough for me to contact Miss M," Dick said, his eyes widening. "I remember that! Well, not to be a downer, but all of this kinda sucks."

"And it gets worse," Flash started. "With your brain in shock, there's a possibility that some other body functions will cease working. You know, things like... breathing... or your heart pumping..."

"So I could just fall over dead?"

"It's a possibility..."

"Lovely," Dick growled, seriously trying not to flip out. "Do you at least know how to get them out?"

"That's where Bats comes in. He knows techy stuff the best," Flash finally finished.

"Then here's an idea," Roy spoke. "Why don't we freaking _call him_ already?!"

"Right," Kaldur began, his leader instincts taking over. "Flash, if you wouldn't mind doing that. Team, we are not to leave Richard alone. And Dick," he said to the boy wonder who currently was sitting in a cot with his head in his hands. "It will be alright, my friend. I will personally make sure of it." Dick didn't respond, and just kept sitting there without moving. With a sigh, Kaldur motioned for the rest of the Team to go to the far corner while Flash left to contact Batman.

"Do you think he will be alright?" The leader asked Wally and Roy quietly.

"Once this is all over with, yeah," Roy said. "Until then, just make sure he knows you're there for him. He needs that." With that, Roy turned around, just in time to see Dick disappear out the door.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" He yelled as Wally ran after him, only to stop when he found the solid, kryptonite-infused doors locked.

"We have got to stop turning our back to that freaking ninja!" Roy continued to yell.

"Why, Red Arrow, I thought you would know by now that all ninjas belong to _me_." A horrifyingly familiar voice said from behind them. The Team whipped around to face the man who had suddenly appeared on the monitor.

"Ra's al Ghul," Roy growled.

* * *

**What's that? After 14 chapters of build-up you're finally satisfied? Good.**

**Robin is red, Nightwing is blue, I can't believe this poem is working, Keep up the reviews!**


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